Story+1984-09-05+Worcester,+MA

´´Now...this song that´s....dedicated to that golden roadway of the east....the New Jersey Turnpike....now, I used to work in New York City or up in North Jersey all the time and uh, I´d always end up taking the turnpike south like 3.30 am, 4 o´clock in the morning....and it wasn´t too bad, there wasn´t much traffic, you´d just be driving along, had the window down a little bit, thinking about getting home....seeing my girlfriend....raiding the refridgerator.... hugging my girlfriend....raiding the refridgerator....raiding the refridgerator....the turnpike wasn´t so bad but if you got off at Exit 8 which took you down Route 33, into this town called Freehold....about one stretch heading....east where those guys, they got nothing to do but sit and wait for you all night long....so I got off at Exit 8 one night and I was going down the road and I know I wasn´t speeding....but I must´ve been going suspiciously slow because all of a sudden I seen them red lights in my rearview mirror....I get pulled over and the guy comes up to me, says ´License, registration, please´....I´m one of them people that always forgets their wallet....so I had to say ´Sir, I don´t have my license or registration´....so he says ´Wait here´, I give him my name and he goes back and he sits in the patrol car, calls me back in about five minutes and he says, uh....´Are you....are you that rock and roll singer ?´....so I said, said ´Yeah, that´s, that´s me, that´s me´, he says ´Are you the guy, are you the guy that, did you write that ´Born to Run´-song ?´....I said ´Yeah, yeah´, you know, ´I wrote that one´ ....he says, he says ´You know, I´ve got some of your albums at home´, I say ´You do ?´, he says ´Yeah, and Son, you´re in a lot of trouble´...so ends up I get a ticket and then I gotta go to traffic court, on top of it....so now in traffic court, when you go to traffic court, you can plead three things : you can plead innocent, which nobody pleads ´cause almost everybody did what they say you did, and you can plead guilty but nobody wants to admit that they did what they said you did....so the plea that almost everybody pleads is ´guilty with an explanation´...if you sit in traffic court all night, you find out that most of the whole world is guilty with an explanation....now, the night I was there, there was at least half them people that should´ve been pleading insanity...because like I was sitting down and I was hoping that nobody was gonna notice me and this guy recognised me and he come up and like he´s one of them people that like there´s all this room but they sit, sit like so close to you that you gotta lean away and I could tell he was drunk and he gets up before the judge and they got a little microphone and you get up there and he told the judge, he was caught doing 60 on a residential sidestreet....and his explanation was that he was drunk and thought he was out on the highway (chuckles)(?) so anyway, my turn finally comes, I get up there and I say ´Alright, I got five minutes to bullshit my way out of this, well´ (chuckles) so I said ´Now, Judge, let me begin at the beginning´....gimme little bit of guitar.... (....) Well, the judge wouldn´t budge, he held a grudge....so I paid my fine....and went out.... and I ran in open all night.... (....) Tales of the outlaws (chuckles).....”
 * 05.09.84 Worcester, MA, intro to ´Open All Night´**

´´We´re gonna be playing a long time so you guys ought to sit back....a long show....this is a song about, uh....seems if you.....you watch television or you read the papers today you see ....a lot of cases of people who are getting, uh....they end up isolated from their jobs, isolated from their family and their friends and their government....till they feel so powerless....that they just explode....”
 * 05.09.84 Worcester, MA, intro to ´Nebraska´**

´´This is about....see, before I wanted to play the guitar...I wanted to be a baseball player.... and I went the traditional route, I started in Colonial League when I was about seven years old, then I went to the Little League, then I went to the Babe Ruth League....I had amassed the lifetime batting average of a 156 by then....but I wasn´t discouraged....but now when I got to be about 15....I gotta admit I started to lose my commitment to the sport....because I got interested in a couple of other things....now, one of them things was the guitar...now, that I got good at....the other one I´m still working on....but I practise, practise, practise....but anyway....the end of my baseball career happened when....we used to play the baseball games during the week and then we used to have the, the rock and roll gigs on the weekend except one day the baseball game got rained-out and they scheduled it for 8.30 Saturday morning....so like I did a, I did a club date late that night and I was like laying in my bed and I hear the knock on the door and I tell my mother to go down and tell the guys that like I´m sick and that I can´t come....so, you know, your mother, she´s always ready to lie for you and stuff so (chuckles) so she goes down and she tells them ´No, Bruce, he´s too sick, he can´t go today´, so they go away but ´bout 20 minutes later they come back and I hear ´em downstairs at the door going ´Oh, Mrs.Springsteen.....we only got eight guys and if Bruce don´t come, we´re gonna forfeit the game, it´s gonna be the end of the season, he´s gotta come, he´s gotta´...so I´m like laying up there in bed and my mother sends ´em upstairs and now like I gotta make believe like I´m really sick so I´m laying there in bed, you know....I always sleep with my guitar....my girlfriends don´t like it but they get used to it....sometimes my guitar sleeps on the outside (chuckles) so I´m laying there and the guys come up and like (coughs) I´m making believe I´m sick but....but I´m one of those kinds of people that I can´t say ´no´ ....you know (?) anybody starts begging me or something, I always, I always say ´Yeah, ok, ok, ok´....so I get dressed and I go down to the field....I get out in the right field, my permanent position, I´m standing there....and I´m hoping that nothing comes to me....and the game´s going pretty good....you know, we´re about....bottom of the eighth inning and we´re heading by a run and I kind of start to daydream....and I imagine....there´s a girl....she´s climbing over the fence into the out-field....she tells me it´s too hot to keep this baseball uniform on....and then all of a sudden, wheeew.....´I got it, I got it´....the runner scores, we lose the game....that´s when I decided to give up baseball and dedicate the rest of my life to rock and roll....and I haven´t regretted it since....but when you´re out at night there´s always somebody coming up to you telling you them old stories....and in the end all things must pass and it´s nothing but glory days....”
 * 05.09.84 Worcester, MA, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Now, there I was....still in high school....but I was having a pretty hard time....didn´t know what to do with myself....I didn´t know what I wanted to be, I didn´t have any guidance....I didn´t have any, any direction, I didn´t have any hope or faith....and so they sent me down to see my guidance counsellor...so I told him my problem and he said ´No, that´s too big a job for me´...so he sent me home, says ´You better go home and talk to your folks´....so I went in the kitchen....my father was sitting at the kitchen table....I said ´Dad, Dad, I need your help ´cause, ´cause I´m lost and I ain´t got any hope, I don´t know what I wanna do with myself, ain´t got no confidence, I don´t know what I wanna make out of my life, I ain´t got no faith´... he said ´Get me another beer out of the icebox´....so then I went to see the priest....I went up to the rectory....I went in.....said ´Father (?)....I´m lost here, I ain´t got no faith, I ain´t got no hope, I don´t know what I wanna be, I´m going down the tubes´ and he said ´Well, then you better start praying´...(?)....so I was getting discouraged....I went down towards Asbury Park ....and it was in this little club....I went in the bathroom....and there on the wall, it said ´Advice and answers to all things´....had a little phonenumber....and so I went out and got a dime....dialled on the phone....it rang once....it rang twice and I heard (Clarence : ´Hello´).... and it was some guy who was Clarence He Who Knows All Clemons....so I drove over Clarence´s house....we kind of checked each other out....decided we´d be a good team....and Clarence said he knew a spot way outside of town where there was a gypsy woman that could solve all our problems....so we got in his Oldsmobile and we drove south down Route 9...deep into the pines....we parked by the side of the road, we got out and walked deep into the forest....it was dark, it was spooky...there were noises coming from every place....the wind was blowing through the trees...we came upon this big shade tree, I could tell because he had his shades on....and then deep into the forest we went....now, Big Man...there ain´t no, there ain´t no wild animals in this forest, is there ?....there ain´t no like lions ?....no tigers ? no killer chipmunks ?...no bears ? no nothing ?...so on we walked....(?)....I think I hear something behind us (?)....oh!!! and there was, there was this big bear but, but he was trying to communicate with us....he was kind of friendly....I could tell by the way he wore his hat that he was smarter than the average bear....and he said that he ran away from the circus ´cause he got tired of all the bullshit and that he knew a spot in the forest where we could find what we were looking for and so he led us on....and there in the clearing the moon shone down and we saw the answer to all our problems....and we stood there and we knew that everything was gonna be alright....and then....when we touched....”
 * 05.09.84 Worcester, MA, middle of ´Growin´Up´**

´´Ladies and gentlemen....children of all ages....we have with us tonight a large galaxy of stars here on stage....beginning at my far left....the only member of the E Street Band with a full high school diploma....let´s hear it for education and to Professor Roy Bittan....on the vocals, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....the lovely, the beautiful Miss Patti Scialfa....and next the man that puts the bass in your face, who brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, Mr.Garry W.Tallent.... and then on the drums, a man who´s not only a drummer but an author, author of The Big Beat, the Mighty One, Mighty Max Weinberg....and next on the organ....you guys are gonna get it (chuckles)....we´ve got the inimitable, the unbelievable, the unfathomable, the impossible, the immoral, the original sinner, ladies and gentlemen, Phantom Dan Federici..... lookout girls, he hates to be alone.....and then we have....one of the newest members of the E Street Band....from South Jersey, I´d like to introduce to you my pal, Jim the Dancing Bear ....don´t worry, ladies and gentlemen, he´s completely docile....and on the guitar, drumroll, please....Mr.Nils Lofgren (Nils does his stunt on a trampoline)....and last but not least.....do I have to say his name ?....are you gonna make me say his name ?....just gimme a C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E, what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....on the saxophone, Clarence Big Man Clemons ....”
 * 05.09.84 Worcester, MA, middle of ´Rosalita´**

´´Thanks....I wanna thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight, thank you very much....oh yeah, this is....when I was a kid, the first thing that ever meant anything to me was when I heard, I heard the music of Elvis Presley....and uh....it kind of opened up my mind and let me, let me dream a little....let me see a little bit outside the world that I was living in ....and his music always said to me one thing, it just said ´Let freedom ring´....so....we gotta fight for it every day...”
 * 05.09.84 Worcester, MA, intro to ´Born to Run´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//